AFL-CIO

House Democrats gathered at a strategy retreat this week in dire need of a pep talk, after seeing their influence sharply reduced by last year's election and enduring a number of internal debates that eroded morale. They got one from President Obama, who urged them to stop running from touchy topics like the Affordable Care Act or the economy, and instead to start proudly embracing the party's achievements and core values. "The record shows that we were right," Obama told the dispirited lawmakers Thursday, trying to spread some of his postelection swagger. Yet as they begin a third term in the House minority, Democratic leaders face their smallest caucus in 70 years...

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